"Lord Danzo ordered for Kakashi Hatake to be brought back to the Root base?"
"Fine, I understand."
Aburame Ryoma nodded silently, his face showing not a single ripple of emotion.
This was clearly a taboo mission—kidnapping the captain of the Hokage's shadow guard within Konoha Village.
To Aburame Ryoma, however, it seemed commonplace and didn't elicit the slightest hint of unease.
Because he had done such things far too many times.
In Root, were Danzo Shimura's taboo orders ever few and far between?
"You all, follow me."
Aburame Ryoma casually selected several elite Root Ninjas and left the Root base in an instant.
——————
In Konoha Hospital, Kakashi Hatake was lying on his hospital bed, staring blankly.
His arm had been reattached after emergency treatment from Utatane Koharu.
But reconnecting the nerves was a profound field where Utatane Koharu was powerless; in all of Konoha, only Tsunade could do it.
If Tsunade couldn't be brought back to Konoha Village quickly for treatment...
Kakashi Hatake's hand would never again be able to withstand intense movement, let alone combat.
He would become half a cripple!
But the little white-haired guy had no heart to think about his own problems right now; a single face kept surfacing in his mind.
Uchiha Obito!
Earlier in the Quiz Space, Kakashi Hatake had endured perhaps the greatest psychological shock of his life.
His former best friend, under the manipulation of Uchiha Madara—whom everyone thought was dead—
Was going to attack Konoha Village!
And would cause the deaths of his teacher, Minato Namikaze, and his master's wife, Uzumaki Kushina!
This was something Kakashi Hatake absolutely could not accept.
"Obito! Please, don't do anything foolish!"
Kakashi Hatake thought silently to himself.
Beside the hospital bed where he lay, a Ninja wearing a green skin-tight jumpsuit and sporting a bowl cut...
...was incessantly blathering about something.
This was Kakashi Hatake's other best friend—Might Guy.
Might Guy clumsily peeled an apple for Kakashi Hatake while droning on:
"Kakashi, you must get well soon!"
"The flames of youth cannot stop for a single moment! The longer you lie here, the more the flames of your youth will flicker!"
"Eat this apple and come practice running with me! Twenty laps around Konoha Village!"
"If you can't do it, then do a thousand handstand jumps!"
"Oh right, your hand is injured so you can't do handstands. Then five thousand meters of frog jumps!"
Might Guy's nagging was driving Kakashi Hatake crazy, even though he knew this guy was trying to comfort him in his own unique way.
But clearly, it wasn't working at all, okay?
Who wants to go running with you! I'm still a patient, for goodness' sake!
Feeling irritable, Kakashi Hatake was about to turn around and tell Might Guy to be quiet for a while when his sharp combat instincts suddenly sensed something!
"Someone's coming!"
And they were clearly Ninjas from an assassination unit skilled in concealment; ordinary people wouldn't have triggered his alarm.
Might Guy's thick eyebrows twitched as he immediately understood Kakashi's meaning. His entire body tensed up, erupting with a sharp aura like a ferocious beast.
"Kakashi Hatake! Please come with us, Hokage-sama wishes to see you."
Several masked Anbu in combat gear suddenly jumped in through the window.
One of the leaders spoke.
"You can't even lie properly. Do you really think you can impersonate Anbu like that?"
Kakashi Hatake rose from the bed, crouching low in a combat-ready stance, and sneered:
"As the captain of the Hokage's shadow guard, would the Hokage need you to notify me if he summoned me?"
The ANBU Ninja who had just spoken wasn't provoked by Kakashi's sneer; instead, he continued flatly:
"That is not for you to question. Hokage-sama has summoned you; do you intend to refuse?"
"You should be well aware of the consequences of defying orders, Kakashi Hatake."
The ANBU Ninja's voice gradually turned cold, and along with the Ninjas behind him, he assumed an offensive posture.
In Kakashi's perception, there were dangerous presences outside the window and on the roof as well.
"Ah, well, the Sublime Blue Beast of Konoha won't let you take my best friend away in front of me!"
"If you want to take Kakashi, you'll have to get through me first!"
Might Guy suddenly struck an opening stance, shielding Kakashi Hatake.
"Very well. For defying Hokage-sama's orders, take them both down!"
A sneer appeared on the face beneath Aburame Ryoma's mask, and he suddenly gave the order.
In that instant, all the ANBU Ninjas launched their assault.
Black smoke billowed from Aburame Ryoma's body as he lunged toward Kakashi Hatake.
Meanwhile, the ANBU Ninjas behind him lunged at Might Guy with Kunai in hand.
"Insects! You're from the Aburame Clan!"
As the battle began, Kakashi Hatake quickly pushed his forehead protector up, revealing his blood-red three-tomoe Sharingan.
To his shock, the smoke rushing toward him was actually a dense swarm of tiny black insects.
Upon seeing these insects, Kakashi immediately guessed Aburame Ryoma's identity and blurted it out.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
With no time to dodge, Kakashi hurriedly formed hand seals and spat several spheres of blazing fire from his mouth, temporarily blocking the insect mist.
Taking advantage of this gap, he used the Body Flicker Technique to leave his position.
"Kakashi! You bastards, I won't let you lay a finger on Kakashi!"
Might Guy shouted in worry as he saw Aburame Ryoma using Parasitic Insects to attack Kakashi Hatake.
But the two ANBU Ninjas in front of him kept him pinned down.
The hospital room was small, making it difficult for a Taijutsu Ninja like him to operate. In his desperation, Might Guy roared:
"Eight Gates: First Gate, Gate of Opening, Open!"
"Second Gate, Gate of Healing, Open!"
"Third Gate, Gate of Life, Open!"
"Fourth Gate, Gate of Pain, Open!"
"Fifth Gate, Gate of Limit, Open!"
"AHHHHHHH!"
Explosive Chakra swirled around Might Guy, and a soul-shaking aura suddenly radiated outward.
"What is this?!"
The two Root Ninjas who had been pinning Might Guy were blown back by the powerful Chakra, all of them filled with shock and doubt.
"Guy!"
Kakashi Hatake, who had used Body Flicker to temporarily evade the insect mist, cried out.
He understood Might Guy's Eight Gates and knew that opening them caused immense damage to the user.
To protect him, Might Guy had opened all the way to the Fifth Gate without hesitation!
Might Guy was now covered in green Chakra, his eyes entirely white, his staggering aura like that of a prehistoric behemoth!
"Ha!"
With a roar, he threw a punch at incredible speed; the intense friction with the air even generated scorching flames!
"Get out of the way!"
Aburame Ryoma roared, trying to use the Body Flicker Technique to dodge.
But in the next second—a span of time too short for him to even blink—Might Guy was already upon him, landing a straight punch right on Aburame Ryoma's face!
BAM!